Scores:
PAT: 20
QR: 22
RC: 20
Bio: 27
GC: 22
OC: 25
TS: 24
AA: 23
Background: I’m a health science major and I took the DAT after my second year of college. I also have a 4.0!
Materials Used:
Literally only DAT booster. I looked at my notes from my organic chemistry class maybe once or twice, so I would say I solely used booster. I did research on which platform to use and everyone said booster was the most representative, which was 100% true (especially the biology)!! I watched all of the biology videos and the week before the test I went through a lot of the Feralis notes and did the bio bits (going through the notes and taking my own notes helped so much).
Study Timeline:
I first started using booster the second week of May and I took my test June 26. I never studied 8 hours a day like I see a lot of people do until the week of the exam. Some weeks I literally studied like 2 hours a day and I mainly studied bio because I felt confident in the other subjects. I tried at first to study all day everyday, but it only lasted like 4 days. My #1 tip is don’t put your mental health to the side to study. I studied much better when I was still doing things I enjoy like hanging out with my niece and playing pickleball. The week before the exam I locked in and I redid all of the gen chem question banks, went through all the bio, and redid the math question banks.
Day of Exam
•Bio (27): I was the most nervous for this section, but I ended up doing the best on it! It was very straightforward and there was only one question I simply didn’t know. Booster literally had everything you need for this section! If you have topics you haven’t learned or didn’t learn that well in college, the videos and the notes are super helpful. Try and make your own handwritten notes when going through the information.
•GC (22): I expected there to be way more calculations, but there were barely any. It was mainly conceptual and that’s why I think I didn’t do as well. The few calculations were literally so easy.
•OC (25): make sure you know all of the rankings (melting point, boiling point, acids/ bases). Again, most of my questions were conceptual and I didn’t have that many reaction questions. Also, know the IR and NMR values I had like at least 3 questions where you just had to memorize the values basically.
•PAT (20): All of my practice tests I was scoring around a 19-20 on PAT. I feel like the exam was easier on top front end and pattern folding than on booster. You just have to practice practice practice.
•RC (20): I was annoyed at this section but I basically didn’t prepare at all. I have always been good at reading (for example I got a 33 on the reading on the ACT if that helps) but idk what happened. My first two passages had such easy questions like I think I got them all right. However, the last passage I had was literally such a rough one. The content of the passage was confusing and the questions were all tough conceptual ones. I also didn’t take any of the full length reading practice tests so it’s my fault.
•QR (22): I was really surprised on this section because I was only missing 1-3 questions on the practice tests. However, I started getting really nervous at this point because I knew I was going to see my scores after. Also, I’m not sure if the testing center got more busy, but between every question the lag was so bad. I counted and it literally took 5 seconds for my next question to load which wasted so much of my time.
Ending Advice:
Don’t be afraid to push your test back if you need more time to study ( I pushed mine back from June 8- June 26). Also, don’t feel like you have to study for 3+ months like some people do. Try to have a strong foundation when you take your science courses because you’re just going to have to relearn it all for the DAT ( I barely studied for the organic chem section because I learned the information very well when I took the class). Finally, don’t stress about it too much! You’re going to do a lot better than you think you are if you prepare yourself well!
PAT: 20
QR: 22
RC: 20
Bio: 27
GC: 22
OC: 25
TS: 24
AA: 23
Background: I’m a health science major and I took the DAT after my second year of college. I also have a 4.0!
Materials Used:
Literally only DAT booster. I looked at my notes from my organic chemistry class maybe once or twice, so I would say I solely used booster. I did research on which platform to use and everyone said booster was the most representative, which was 100% true (especially the biology)!! I watched all of the biology videos and the week before the test I went through a lot of the Feralis notes and did the bio bits (going through the notes and taking my own notes helped so much).
Study Timeline:
I first started using booster the second week of May and I took my test June 26. I never studied 8 hours a day like I see a lot of people do until the week of the exam. Some weeks I literally studied like 2 hours a day and I mainly studied bio because I felt confident in the other subjects. I tried at first to study all day everyday, but it only lasted like 4 days. My #1 tip is don’t put your mental health to the side to study. I studied much better when I was still doing things I enjoy like hanging out with my niece and playing pickleball. The week before the exam I locked in and I redid all of the gen chem question banks, went through all the bio, and redid the math question banks.
Day of Exam
•Bio (27): I was the most nervous for this section, but I ended up doing the best on it! It was very straightforward and there was only one question I simply didn’t know. Booster literally had everything you need for this section! If you have topics you haven’t learned or didn’t learn that well in college, the videos and the notes are super helpful. Try and make your own handwritten notes when going through the information.
•GC (22): I expected there to be way more calculations, but there were barely any. It was mainly conceptual and that’s why I think I didn’t do as well. The few calculations were literally so easy.
•OC (25): make sure you know all of the rankings (melting point, boiling point, acids/ bases). Again, most of my questions were conceptual and I didn’t have that many reaction questions. Also, know the IR and NMR values I had like at least 3 questions where you just had to memorize the values basically.
•PAT (20): All of my practice tests I was scoring around a 19-20 on PAT. I feel like the exam was easier on top front end and pattern folding than on booster. You just have to practice practice practice.
•RC (20): I was annoyed at this section but I basically didn’t prepare at all. I have always been good at reading (for example I got a 33 on the reading on the ACT if that helps) but idk what happened. My first two passages had such easy questions like I think I got them all right. However, the last passage I had was literally such a rough one. The content of the passage was confusing and the questions were all tough conceptual ones. I also didn’t take any of the full length reading practice tests so it’s my fault.
•QR (22): I was really surprised on this section because I was only missing 1-3 questions on the practice tests. However, I started getting really nervous at this point because I knew I was going to see my scores after. Also, I’m not sure if the testing center got more busy, but between every question the lag was so bad. I counted and it literally took 5 seconds for my next question to load which wasted so much of my time.
Ending Advice:
Don’t be afraid to push your test back if you need more time to study ( I pushed mine back from June 8- June 26). Also, don’t feel like you have to study for 3+ months like some people do. Try to have a strong foundation when you take your science courses because you’re just going to have to relearn it all for the DAT ( I barely studied for the organic chem section because I learned the information very well when I took the class). Finally, don’t stress about it too much! You’re going to do a lot better than you think you are if you prepare yourself well!
